Science Olympiad: A big event for LCPS elementary students that’s getting bigger
When, officially, Lenoir County Public School students get the day off Friday – a teacher workday – nearly 300 of them will be up to their safety goggles in science learning. They’re competitors in LCPS’s annual Elementary Science Olympiad.
And one of them, Northwest Elementary fifth grader Eleanor Florez, is nervous. Despite being a three-year veteran of the competition. Despite being a member of last year’s winning team. “Being with my friends helps me get over it,” said Eleanor as the 30 members of Northwest’s varsity and junior varsity teams gathered Tuesday for their last practice session before the big event.
And big it is.
This year’s Science Olympiad, to be held at Contentnea-Savannah K-8 School, will draw the most teams in the event’s 10-year history. All nine elementary schools will be represented and four of them, like Northwest, will bring two teams. Interest in the competition – and, consequently, in STEM activities that stress science, technology, engineering and math – has grown exponentially among the third, fourth and fifth grade students eligible to compete.
When Austin Reese came to Banks Elementary School as its digital learning specialist, the school’s team numbered no more than 17. This year, her second as head coach, her Science Olympiad “family,” as she likes to say, numbers 45 students and 17 coaches, nearly a third of the school’s faculty. “We’ve just tried to find a place at Banks where everyone is included and are part of something,” Reese said. That philosophy applies particularly to students who need a little push to be their best or to students who might not be good test-takers but are good with their hands or at cracking the code of experiments.
Banks’ team was winnowed from the 187 students who applied through a tryout process. Because schools are limited to 30 competitors, not all members of Banks’ two teams with be on hand Friday. Still, the 17 alternates will be included.
“After the LCPS competition, we are going to have a mock competition at Banks so that our alternates who didn’t get to compete will compete in our school competition,” Reese said. “That’s been important to us in growing the program. Even though all students can’t compete on competition day, they get to compete at Banks and still feel like they matter and they are important. That’s something I’ve tried to instill in them: that we are a family and we are all important.”
More competition and more competitors mean more learning. The 15 events in the day’s competition range from rocket launching to bridge building to sleuthing out the composition of chemical compounds. What they all have in common is an emphasis on the practical.
“Science Olympiad fosters critical thinking, teamwork and hands-on problem-solving, giving students practical experience that enhances their understanding of classroom concepts and prepares them for real-world applications,” said Dr. Stephanie Harrell, the district’s STEM coordinator and an organizer of the competition.
It’s a style of learning that apparently has some appeal for students, who typically practice their specialized events weekly for two months or more. Sixteen of the 30 team members at Northwest are returning from last year’s championship team – “all that were eligible,” said head coach Janis Skoczylas, the school’s media coordinator.
But the coach is always on the lookout for promising newcomers. “I usually do a couple of STEM activities in the library and I keep my eye out for who’s really good at it,” Skoczylas said. “A lot of times you’ll find a hidden gem that maybe wasn’t interested in Science Olympiad until you say, hey, you’re really good at this. That will get them interested.”
With head coach Janis Skoczylas on hand at practice Tuesday, Northwest Elementary fifth graders Eleanor Florez, left, and Ashlyn Santos test their knowledge of chemical compounds in the “Super Sleuthing” event in which they’ll compete at Friday’s LCPS Elementary Science Olympiad.
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